Since the 1980’s German institutions have sent adolescents to Southern Portugal to participate in experimental projects of social re-education, and our main character, Katrin, arrives in the Alentejo region of Portugal unable to establish a relationship with her new environment. The situation worsens because of the sheer emptiness of the region, the social desertification of Alentejo. Katrin plans to create a refuge in the middle of nowhere, with Julia and Pedro: in a physical and mental desert. –www.clapfilmes.pt
Hugo Vieira da Silva was born on July 16, 1974 in Porto, Portugal. After studying law at the Catholic University in Porto, he earned a degree from the Lisbon School of Theater and Cinema (ESTC) in 1998 with his graduation project, the documentary Arte Pública. Da Silva made two other documentaries before directing his first full-length feature film, Body Rice, in 2006. Swans is his second full-length feature film. Hugo Vieira da Silva currently lives and works in Vienna and Berlin. –Berlinale
The 80's in Alentejo was far more poetic and idealistic than this vagueless aimless narrative, contrary to this narrative we were much more than bodies. The music, the landscape but most of all the abandonment characteristic of Alentejo's mood that invades us under its heat, certainly made me feel nostalgic... Saudades!
